The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals acted correctly today by upholding Washington state regulations that require pharmacies to fill prescriptions that their owners may find objectionable, Americans United for Separation of Church and State says.

Americans United filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the most recent version of the case, arguing that the regulations do not violate the religious freedom rights of pharmacy owners.Read more

When it comes to religion-based refusals, much of the focus in recent months has been on issues that stem from the widespread legalization of marriage equality. But there are other significant battles pertaining to “religious freedom,” one of which is the ongoing war some nonprofits are waging against birth control. Read more

Church-State Watchdog Represented Women At Risk Of Losing Access To Vital Medical Care At Catholic School

May 20, 2015

A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that federal regulations designed to protect women’s access to birth control do not infringe on the religious-liberty rights of the University of Notre Dame. Read more

As years pass, historical figures start to get a little fuzzy around the edges. This is especially true of those men and women who loom large over public consciousness. Activist groups, eager to co-opt these important historical personages, start subtly rewriting history. Read more

The small town of Ave Maria, Fla., is home to Ave Maria University, a strictly Catholic institution – and critics say, an undemocratic form of government dominated by one man’s interpretation of religious doctrine.

The community of about 2,500 souls is a project of eccentric millionaire and Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan, who reportedly planned the town as an ultra- conservative Catholic enclave in an isolated stretch of Florida countryside. Read more

The results of the midterm elections may present new challenges to supporters of separation of church and state, but not all of the news is bad: Voters soundly rejected religiously-motivated attempts to severely restrict or even ban access to some forms of contraception. Read more

Over the weekend, Americans United Senior Litigation Counsel Greg Lipper took part in a panel discussion about the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision at a meeting of the American Political Science Association here in Washington, D.C. Read more

Some commentators continue to insist that the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores was no big deal. It’s a narrow ruling, they insist, and there are other ways to ensure that women can get access to birth control. Read more

American writer Theodore Dreiser’s 1925 novel An American Tragedy deals with the story of a socially ambitious young man who, dismayed because he has impregnated his working-class girlfriend, engineers her death.

The book was banned in some cities – but not because of its depiction of murder. Rather, conservative religious leaders feared that a plot hinging on an unwanted pregnancy would spur young people to get curious about birth control. Read more

For nearly two years, Americans United has detailed the truth behind Hobby Lobby v. Sebelius, a case brought by a chain of craft stores that claims it has a religious freedom right to deny important preventative health care to its employees. Read more